Sean Lennon Reveals John Lennon’s Temper

September 22nd, 2008

Most Beatles fans know the legendary John Lennon had a temper, but not too many have heard Sean Lennon talk about it as he remembers how it was for him as a young child. It also sounds like John was tormented soon afterward by his volatile behavior.

One night in particular, Sean Lennon said that his dad yelled at him so loud that he ended up damaging his hearing, according to the New York Post Page Six. In Philip Norman’s new biography, John Lennon: The Life, Sean explained the incident:

“[He was] teaching me how to cut and eat steak, which was a mystery to me at age 4; how to stick the fork in and cut behind it, and that was how you got a piece in your mouth. I think it was that night when he got very upset with me, I think because of something I did very cheekily with the steak. He did wind up yelling at me very, very loudly to the point where he damaged my ear, and I had to go to the hospital.”

Sean also described John as being mortified by what he did:

“I remember when I was lying on the floor and hurting, and him holding me and saying, ‘I’m so sorry.’ He did have a temper.”

He also shared some of John’s sensitive side:

“I remember one time he accidentally let one of the heavy wooden doors at The Dakota slam on my finger. And he was very upset about that. My fingernail eventually fell off. Another time, Alice, our black cat, had jumped out the window after a pigeon and died, and I remember that was the only time, I think, I ever saw my dad cry.”

Photo Credit: PR Photos

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